Elon University honored renowned designer Alexander Julian with the Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership on Wednesday in LaRose Digital Theatre.
The award is presented to people who live by the university’s core values of integrity, innovation and creativity, passion for lifelong learning and commitment to building a dynamic community.
“I really shouldn’t be here to accept an award on entrepreneurship," Julian said. "I’m not good at running a business. What I’m good at is ideation.”
Julian, a fashion and furniture designer, delivered a speech and outlined his accomplishments in the LaRose Digital Theater before receiving his medal.
He said students and faculty should recognize the importance of having a mindset for design.
“If you want to be successful, you have to liken your business endeavor to be open-ended and reciprocal to the desires of the consumers," he said.
Throughout his career, he has designed elegant fabrics and specialized in clothing. He's created more than 108 different categories of products. He also made about 150-200 ties a season.
Because of his achievements, Julian has won the International Color Marketing Award, the Pantone Award, three Cutty Sark Awards, the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award, five Coty Awards, and the Worldesign Award for Humanitarian Endeavors. Some of his designs have been featured in the Smithsonian National Design Museum’s permanent collection.
He started his career from humble beginnings, telling those in attendance about his parent’s history. He described how his parents were teachers and owned a clothing store. This became a source of inspiration for him later in life.
Julian's creative ability was reflected in the way he described his process of designing a room. He told the audience he imagines each part of the room as an article of clothing. The wall is a shirt, the couch and chairs are the pants and the flooring is the shoes.
He quoted many famous thought leaders in his speech, including a paraphrase from Einstein’s quote about the importance of creativity over knowledge. He used that quote to compare the abundance of resources Elon has to offer its students.